


After

by NowThatsDedication



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Reunion, battle of the five armies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 11:29:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6373006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NowThatsDedication/pseuds/NowThatsDedication
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The battle is over. Fíli and Kíli and Thorin reunite and come to terms with the results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After

_It is over_

A thick haze veils the ground, so dense that Fíli cannot see his feet. That he is even on his feet is a surprise; he last recalls being on his knees, noticing how white the snow was as it got closer and closer, before the world turned black for a moment. Or longer. He is not sure. It does not matter how or why. Not anymore. He made it.

The wind is sharp and biting, every intake of breath an icy stab to his lungs. There is nothing else. Silence. Yet it is somehow louder than the sounds of battle. He is unarmed, vulnerable. A shiver of dread overtakes him against his will. _This is not right._

But he is not alone. Fíli can sense him near, the other half of him.

“Kíli!” he shouts into the emptiness. “Kíli, where are you?” His brother's name entangles in swirls of mist and smoke. But Fíli’s cries are stronger, persistent. They rip through the air like a blade on flesh.

“Here. Over here.”

Fíli rushes toward the faint voice, fighting through the fog with a determination reserved only for moments like this, moments that have become too frequent lately. _Is it over now?_

Kíli lies still, his limbs tucked close to his body. He had been hesitant to move, to open his eyes, until he heard his brother’s calls. His shock fades with Fíli’s arrival.

“Are you hurt? I saw you go down, I was afraid you...” he lifts Kíli up, searching him for signs of injury, frantic, then relieved.

“I don’t think so. I don’t remember what happened. I was certain I was going to-” Fíli does not let him finish. He throws his arms around Kíli, their embrace breaking the heavy curtain of gloom that had engulfed them. Instead of silence, tired laughter now fills the void.

“It’s over. It’s over and there is no need to worry now. We made it,” Fíli reassures him.

“Where is everyone?” Kíli searches, still unsteady. “Were we left behind? What if they were captured, or-”

“Don't think that way. We’ll find them,” Fíli banishes the thought from his mind.

“Why aren’t they looking for us?”

“Perhaps they are. This fog is so thick, they may be having as much trouble as we are.”

They continue on, hoping to leave the past behind them and all the chaos and uncertainty it held. The future is ahead, but they are unable to see beyond a few paces in front of them. Gaining ground, losing faith.

“Fíli, I think we are lost.”

“No, there is a way out. We were farther away than we thought. We didn’t realize it during the-”

The fog breaks slowly, parting on both sides of a dark shape limping toward them. Fíli instinctively reaches for a weapon that is not there. They huddle closer and brace themselves, straining to discern its features. Ally or enemy or-

“Thorin!”

Their uncle stares at them in disbelief, as if they were illusions he did not want to see.

“We did it!” Kíli cheers as he runs to him.

Thorin’s expression collapses into sorrow. “I am sorry.” Rare words. A solemn whisper, asking for forgiveness.

He places a shaking hand on Kíli’s shoulder and glances at his eldest nephew. And Fíli understands now, what he suspected but chose not to believe. He lowers his head in defeat, in shame. _It is over._

“Come.”

“You know the way? We thought we were lost,” Kíli sighs in relief.

They follow, falling a short distance behind. Thorin does not speak.

Each step Kíli takes is filled with optimism. He does not notice Fíli has yet to raise his head. He is going back to the mountain, he is going _home_.

Fíli lays a penitent touch on his brother’s back. He was supposed to protect him. “I failed you.”

“It’s not your fault! How would you know the way back?”

“No, not that. Because I could not...” Fíli stops himself. He does not want to finish. “I’m sorry.”

“We’ll be back to the mountain soon, and-”

“We are not going to the mountain.”

Kíli stops in his tracks. His eyes darken and flash in bewilderment. “Where are we going, then?”

Thorin responds, without looking back at them. "To our fathers. Their halls will welcome us.”

“Yes, Erebor. We are going home.” Kíli thinks this an odd time for games, after all they have been through. _But it’s over?_

“No, Kíli,” Fíli tries to explain without words, because it will hurt less, and because if he speaks them, it will be real.

Kíli turns to Thorin for an answer, then back to Fíli. Neither will meet his stare, nor can they handle the pain outlined on his face.

They allow him a few moments to yell into the abyss. His anguished curses sink to the ground, like his hopes.

“I’m sorry, I should have...” Kíli trembles, “...it's my fault, I-”

“There is no fault but my own,” Thorin soothes him.

“But we...we were so close.”

“You are safe now. Do not be afraid. We are together. All is not lost, because we have each other. I will lead you there.”

Kíli is calm now, the anger has passed. Acceptance sweeps over him and erases his fear. The worst has come to pass but it is alright; he is not alone. He will never be alone again.

_Together_. It is a great comfort to Fíli. What would he have done without Kíli? Without Thorin? They will face the unknown together.

_It is not over_

 

 


End file.
